Portable display systems incorporating extruded Aluminum frameworks and fabric graphic panel walls are well known. In such systems, the fabric display panel typically includes a series of gaskets disposed about its periphery, the gaskets being insertable into grooves which extend and open laterally from respective frame members.
Applicant's round tube construction with a pillowcase style fabric skin was introduced over two decades ago and is now copied by most of Applicant's competitors. Further, over the last six years Applicant's Moss Groove (MG) style of construction, with fabric skins attached on each side of a structure via a gasket that is sewn to the edges of the skin, has rapidly grown in popularity due to its ease of assembly, ease of graphic panel change out, and cleaner looking finishing.
Conventional fabric panel-groove interface systems tend involve a gasket-receiving channel formed as an integral part of an aluminum frame member extrusion. The presence of such channel features generally requires a more complex aluminum frame member profile. More complex extrusion profiles tend to increase the weight and cost of the respective frame members, and typically results in a frame member which is much more difficult to bend into complex shapes. This is because the bending processes used on Aluminum extrusions cause the fabric insertion channel to deform and be rendered unusable. As a result, conventional groove-mount fabric panel constructions are generally limited to frame members that are straight or only minimally curved.
In contrast, round tube construction typically employs a simple round tube aluminum profile. Such profiles generally result in extruded frameworks which are lighter weight and lower cost compared to extruded frame members with more complex cross sections. Moreover, frame members having a circular cross sectional profile tend to have greater post-extrusion formability characteristics, making it ideal for very complex bent shapes. However, such frame systems are conventionally used only with pillowcase covers that wrap the entire frame, or with graphics that are attached to the frame with hook-and-loop fastener elements. Pillowcase covers tend to be more costly to manufacture and harder to install and modify on very large structures. Hook-and-loop fastener elements are generally not preferred as a graphic attachment method due to their poor aesthetics and difficult installation.
What are needed are improvements in systems, kits and methods for facilitating the connection of fabric panels to extruded frameworks having round (circular or elliptical) extrusion profiles and complex frame curvatures.